Cowboys coach Todd Payten has declared Tom Dearden needs to start for Queensland “if they want to win” with the 2025 Origin series hanging in the balance.
The 24-year-old, who was valiant in his side’s 38-14 defeat to the Storm on Friday night, was named in the No.14 in the series opener which saw Queensland go down 18-6.
Following a lacklustre Maroons display, pressure has been heaped on veteran halfback Daly Cherry-Evans to retain his spot, with Dearden seen as his potential replacement.
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Payten made it clear he believes his talented playmaker should be partnering Cameron Munster in Game II, a clash that could see NSW secure back-to-back series wins.
“You’re asking the wrong person, I know he’s ready,” Payten said.
“It’s just not my decision, Selfishly, I want him to come off the bench. But if they want to win you put him in the halves.”
Meanwhile, Dearden was of the belief he could have been better when it came to organising his side and kicking the Storm outside backs into corners.
“I wasn’t really looking at it as an audition,” Dearden said.
“I could have been a lot better at helping us with direction and handing the ball over in the right areas.
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“There’s probably a few areas I need to look at in that performance. But I will just have to look at that in the review.”
However, aside from Origin, Payten was scathing of his team’s performance, giving away five penalties and making a total of 16 errors.
“Just pure disappointment and didn’t make a good team earn anything. Doesn’t matter when you crack so easily on the try line,” Payten said.
“And then you just give them leg up after leg up… tackle four and five penalties, play one or two errors. Probably should have been more to be fair.”
When asked if disciplines was his team’s issue, Payten said: “Yep”.
